BEWARE OF Safrique, LDA

Taylor, I appreciate George and co sharing their story and your confirmation of the same type of process and then reiteration of CP's experience as well.
You can not hide behind "wild africa" with the performances talked about here.

Some like Ms. Pruitt may be able to return later in the season on someones budget, dads or the productions company.
Most can't afford the time and money to do a safari twice to get it done.
Some people get one kick at the can and from everything told here, NOT worth the risk.

I have received an Email from one of the PH's at Safrique's northern concession through one of the clients that he guided. The PH has taken and hidden all the trophies from the season because he has not been paid by Safrique for 6 months and is now using this as leverage to get paid. Can't say I blame him, his note to his clients was by way of an apology to them for the inconvenience and to reassure them that their trophies were in good shape, secure and well cared for. He further went on to state that non of the clients had licenses of permits for the season because Safrique had not purchased them. A client then wrote that on a 21 day lion hunt he was held at gun point by government and local officials for "poaching" because they had no license or permits. Due to some quick action by the PH he was able to have them cleared of charges. They requested to be returned to the airport and flew home their hunt a total loss. Now I can only tell you that I have come by these stories via Email from a PH and clients and it is impossible for me to verify but it fits with the pattern of bold face lies I have been told by these people. We returned from our safari 8/9/11 and asked for nothing back except what was was due from unused trophy fees an amount that Safrique agreed we were due in a signed receipt. We would not have had to have refunds if that would have had a boat as was promised to I could take a Croc and Hippo as planned. To date we have received nothing. Currently they are not returning Emails, initially they would return them with excuses and requests that we not post here which initially we honored. I have no idea what will happen but I can't imagine that these people will show up at SCI this year with what has gone on. I will keep you posted if I hear more but I hope all that have read along so far have heard enough to be cautious when dealing with Safrique.

Hi George,

Very sorry to hear of your experience in Mozambique.
I am a hunting agent, based in the UK and narrowly escaped a bad experience myself recently. After a LOT of legwork and cross referencing information, I discovered that the area was not owned and operated by the people offering the hunt and that there were NO Buffalo !
Subsequently , I organised 2 x 10 day Buffalo hunts with another operator ( I knew one of his PHs ) and it was superb. I have never seen so many Buffalo ! Lots of Ele's , huge Crocs ( to 16ft ) and a lot of Plains Game.
I'd be very happy to reccommend it to anyone thinking of a Mozambique hunt.
I can provide 3 Uk hunters as references.
Email me on gbwsafaris@hotmail.co.uk
All best

We have long given up hope of recovering any monies. Our motivation is to help other genuine hunters from getting stung by Safrique the way we did. Regards, George

Originally Posted by WDRacer

I am not doubting you had problems. I also work hard for my money. And no one likes to be taken for a ride regardless of the size of their bank account.
The issues I had with my Mahimba trip were passed on directly to Safrique. As it appears everyone else that had a problem, has done the same. I can only say there were both highs and lows and Im glad I finished off my trip in the L1 block. I was asked to do a follow up on my trip, as I have truthfully. Thats all I can do.

George

To you and your hunting bud's i just do not know what to say...

A hopeful safari that has gone beyond bad...

No one should have to go through what your group has endured.

Originally Posted by george o malley

We have long given up hope of recovering any monies. Our motivation is to help other genuine hunters from getting stung by Safrique the way we did. Regards, George

Look who is selling in the USA this coming year.

9:24 AM 10/24/11 Dallas Safari Club
2012 Exhibitor's Confirmed
Company Assigned Booth #

Safrique, Lda. 1035/36

Deputy Doc, George,

Could not agree with you more. We booked with Safrique this year 2011 in Mahimba (not that concession matters).
1. Found Camp conditions in deplorable condition... no water, PH with Malaria

2. No Boat as promised and as stated in contract.. Not only unavailable: Safrique, Nick, and the Muns knew it would not be available when they booked and promised.

3. NO Hunting Vehicles... PH drove us 8 hours in the back of his pickup from Quellimane and we used this pickup the first 3 days until axle failure. This left us with a delapitated rover with no brakes, suspension or room.

4. 10 days later no replacement vehicle, no camp supplies, and an 8 hour ride back in the rover, with 5 camp staff.

5. Camp Staff had not been paid in months and made for a less than hospitable environment.

6. No Camp resupply so Camp Staff raided Poacher's camp for supplies.

7. I feel SCI, DSC, U.S. State Dept, and all Other Conscientious Outdoorsmen need to be proactive in shutting Safrique Down.

Shocking !

I am aware of another Mozambique operator misselling a concession.

Not willing to publicly denounce them as yet, but happy to advise anyone thinking of going to Mozambique as to where NOT to go !

I hope to help people avoid bad experiences.

All best

Tony

I just saw in the November issue of DSC's "Camp Talk" that Safrique is donating a 10-day buffalo and crocodile hunt (estimated value of $18,200) to the auction at the 2012 DSC convention. I hope whomever bids on this hunt has a full awareness of the mess into which they may be getting themselves!!

True to form the Muns' continue to fail returning Deposited money. This action is Theft plain and simple no honor among thieves or is it Lawyers? DO NOT BOOK or DO BUSINESS WITH THESE FOLKS

Thank you all for your comments and support.
Safrique have returned our trophy fees and one of our members his full money.
True to form they did not return half our daily rate as promised.
They hope that the trophy fee returned will shut us up.
They still have the option of coming out of this whole fiasco with some credibility, or are we being punished for speaking out - time will tell.
We will insist on Safrique honoring its promise to us.
Regards, George

Mr. Omally,
After reading the constant bashing of not just the company but the Muns family, I decided to do some serious investigating into this issue. I am going to first point out that none of the trophies have been held hostage in accordance to my contacts in the Ship/Pack business. These despicable rumors are probably let on by one "Matt Hulley-Miller" how has been called out by Safrique for embezzling well over $10,000 worth of equipment and other misc. cash. Rest assured all clients will receive their trophies in a reasonable fashion like I did. Second point I questioned the PH of Mahimba about the conditions (as I am planning on going on another safari with them next year) Koos assured me that all supplies were in camp and "NO ONE" sat in camp for any amount of days not hunting. Yes he said that the master circuit board shot out on the master craft, (try fixing that quality of craft in any reasonable amount of time in Africa). I also got an interesting bit of a tale about the Omally outfit from the PH and their "Dedication/ Ability" to hunt, which bordered along the lines of one individual being too afraid to close the distance with the buffalo in the tall grass, and another individual who did indeed fire and miss his buffalo. So again with my previous statement of if you are not experienced enough to hunt real Africa then you should stick to the high fences of SA. As far as FLGator is concerned I would like to know your real name so I can get the "FACTS" about the validity of your hunt. I usually just let the whining of inexperienced hunters drift by but I will not stand by and listen to blatant slander against the Muns family. I have served overseas with the second youngest son (which is why I booked my safari with Safrique in the first place), and will not stand by allow this libel. So I don't know Mr. Omally if perhaps you are just ignorant of how African hunting works, or if you are in bed with Hulley-Miller and he is promising you some sort of a cut for you misguidance. My first hunt with Safrique was tough, but well worth it, I will give an accurate report after my next one this upcoming season.

God Speed and Good Hunting
Taylor

PTO.. I have never heard of any outfitter returning the daily rate even if a hunt was unsuccessful.

After reading all these various experiences with Safrique this last year, I have to put my experience in the mix. I hunted with Safrique in late October early November of this year. I have hunted for fifty years over the entire US, Centeral America and Africa. So I am not new to this game. I was originally supposed to hunt another area but my PH had problems with the concession. He contacted Nick and set me up with Safrique on a last minute basis. I had booked an 18 day lion hunt. Paul Davis the PH in Safrique's L1 concession in the Niassa Reserve consented to take me on at the last minute. Dalio met me at the airport and took me to a great hotel where I spent the night and was there again bright and early in the morning to get me on the plane to Lichinga. After arriving in Licninga and spending the night, I was driven from Lichinga to the Camp in Niassa Reserve. It is a long ride but you get to see a lot of Mozambique.

I met the PH Paul Davies in the Camp. I found the camp to be excellent. It is on top of a mountain with a georgeous view of the sorrounding Niassa Reserve. The bungalos are natural rock and thatch. The bungalo was comfortable with full bathroom; sink, toilet, shower and hot/cold water. two beds to a bungalo with netting. The food was fine. Mostly game. The compound has about three hunter bungalos, one PH bungalo, kitchen, and seperate Dinning Room/Main Lodge. There is a water tower that supplies water to everyone and a large diesel genarator for power. There is another compound at the bottom of the hill that has the skining sheds and living quarters for the staff, skinners and trackers. Several miles away is another compound that houses the anti-poaching patrols (about twelve men with 12ga shotguns). They are very serious about anti-poaching in this concession

Paul turned out to be one of if the best PH's I have ever hunted with (if not the best). He is not only a great guide and PH, he is a true conservationists with a love of the flora and fauna of his concession. He is very selective about the animals harvested and I really appreciated that. Although I did not take a lion, we saw tracks of at least three different small prides . I was able to take a great old Dagga Boy (12yrs old) a monster warthog and plains game. So, we had plenty of bait to hang. I saw a wide variety of animals. Practically everything on their list. We could have taken at least two additional Buffalo if I had wanted. There were no great herds but small groups of Dagga boys. We saw game every day but not in great abundance. It is not the Serengeti and you have to work for your animals. However, all except my zebra were old mature animals. The Zebra was for a rug so I wanted it unmarked as much as possible. I plan to return again next year for leopard.

I understand there were problems in the other two concessions of Safrique; Mahimba and Majune, but I did not hunt there and cannot speak from experience. I can say I would not be afraid to recommend to anyone concession L1 and PH Paul Davies. All my trophies were treated properly and I understand Paul is transporting them to Chimoio for processing and shipping in a couple of weeks. I for one cannot wait to go back next year. I can only say I am sorry if other's experienced a different hunt. But it seems to me, rather than blame the entire Safari Company, that there was a difference in they way the concessions were run.

Lost posts...

Originally Posted by george o malley

Hi All,

Still no response to our emails which is not unusual for Safrique.

If you are going to hunt I Africa please, please, please ensure that you go with a reputable Agent.

It will be interesting to see if Safrique show up at the SCI Conference next week.

Watch this space for further development.

Regards,

George

Originally Posted by george o malley

*Rick Specialist*
Dear Rick,
I am delighted that your hunt was a great success. It is no more than you deserve having taken the time, trouble and expense to hunt with Safrique.
How I wish that our experience mirrored yours. We went with very high hopes and are bitterly disappointed.
How can a company that looked after you so well treat other customers so shockingly.
To return the monies promised by Safrique would soften the disappointment.
We also incurred $2,000.00 plus expenses to book return flights home. Air lines are indeed outside Safrique痴 control. Nick abandoned us at the airport. Our PH had to contact his wife in Zimbabwe to book new flights for us. Our biggest loss however was the time and effort that we put into hunting with Safrique. Money returned can never replace the bitter disappointment. As you have seen from the other correspondence we were not the only ones to suffer.
We wish you every success and joy on your future hunts.
Regards,
George

Originally Posted by george o malley

*SAFRIQUE RED ALERT*
Hi All,
Still nothing from Safrique despite their promise to refund half our daily rate.
I see their web site is accessible again no doubt looking for fresh recruits for the coming year.
I find their arrogance staggering. I am careful not to get my comfort at somebody else痴 experience therefore one A. H. has to go unanswered for the moment.
Please read all the comments on Safrique (not just mine) before you decide to book a trip to Africa.
I would refuse to hunt with them free of charge.
There must be other outfitters happy to provide a real African Experience without all this negative publicity.
Keep up the good work.
Lets work together to ensure that all fraudsters are closed down.
Regards,
George

Originally Posted by RickSpecialist

Thanks George. I am really sorry you had such a bad experience with Safrique. I too have had a disasterous hunt in the past similar to yours with another outfitter called "Hunt It All" in Mozambique. However, since I am envolved in litagation with them my attorney says I shouldn't post anything until the suit is settled.

As to Safrique, I think the difference in what you and I experienced had more to do with the PH's and how they ran their concessions. As I said before I can't speak for the Mahimba and Majune concessions as I did not hunt there. I can speak for L1 and it's PH Paul Davies who was great. I will hunt that concession with him again. I know how disappointing it can be to have a long awaited dream hunt turn sour. Perhaps the best thing any of us can do is get references from other hunters about the PH's they have hunted with. The quality of your PH probably has more to do with the quality of your hunt than anything but location. I for one would not hunt Africa without knowing who my PH was going to be and I would check him out through references by other hunters that had hunted with him regardless of which company he worked for. I hope you get your matter settled with Safrique to your satisfaction. Don't give up on Africa you will get a great hunt if you persevere. Rick

Originally Posted by HDP Safaris

Hi hunters,

I have followed this post for a while.

I will represent Outfitters in RSA. Some of which have concessions in other African countries. I will first hunt with them myself to check that:

-They are reliable in the bush
-They deliver on the services they advertise
-They are transparent
-All their registrations are up to date
-They do have the hunting rights they claim to have
-They deal with 'taxidermy issues' efficiently (if any 'issues' arise)
-They treat their clients, staff, and animals with respect
-They run an ethical hunting practise ("ethical" as far as the term is universally understood without ambiguity and subjective interpretation, we all know what "ethical" means in terms of hunting)

That's the general idea. I will have first-hand experience with all the Outfitters that agree to employ me as well as pics of trophies I have taken with the Outfitter and pics of his/her accommodations that have been checked with the Tourism Grading Council in the stipulated time frames etc. I am based in RSA. If you have any trouble after your safari I will still be here in RSA to act on your behalf after your trip. I will not be a booking agent, I will be a hunting consultant (I do not, and am not allowed to secure your booking as an SA national, that is the duty of the Outfitter), I will market the outfit and its hunting packages, I will discuss your needs with you then direct you to an Outfitter who you will then have contact with and who will organise your hunt with you. And I will not handle any of your money, you pay the Outfitter and he gives me a commission.

This is how I see myself:

I am not a car salesman: I give you the information that I have, then you make the call. I will not follow-up and follow-up and convince and coerce, that is what car salesman do and it is suited for that industry, not this one. If you want an African safari, stay away from 'promises' and 'garuntees'.

Some men don't like my idea, some Outfitters scoff, others frown. That's ok with me. I am not trying to make a million dollars, I just love hunting and I want to be involved. If I had the opportunity to become an Outfitter myself I would run my own outfit, but this is life. I am a bushbaby living in the suburbs. I have been a hunter all my life. I am not in contract with any Outfitter yet. Please feel free to check out my posts, threads, pics on AH.

IF you would like to comment (negative and positive feedback welcome) please PM me as I don't want to hi-jack this thread.

Lastly, I have no comment for the suspects who supposedly run scams and drain the hunting industry of its authenticity and fun-filled adventure!

I hope all who were affected by the money-grubbing parties will find a reputable Outfitter and enjoy a true African safari in the future. I hope the affected parties get their monies back and that if the suspects are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, in a court of law, that they are prosecuted to the full extent.

Remember: There are no "promises" and "garuntees made in the African bush that are exempt from the mood-swings of Mother Nature or the greed of men.

Regards,

SAFRIQUE RED ALERT
Much to our disappointment Safrique never showed up at S.C.I.
I suspect they are hiding in the long grass (no pun intended) and will emerge at a later
date in a new format.
Thank you all again for your kind comments and support.
Hopefully one or two of you based in the U.S. are following the legal route.
I wish you every success. Give them one for me.
Hope to get more than camp meat with my new .577 Heym on my next Safari.
Regards, George

I will add another complaint on Safrigue. An elephant hunt was booked for 16-26 Nov 2011. On 14 Nov. Randy Muns notified that the hunt was canceled and the deposit of $12,500 would be refunded. There have been multiple emails with Muns and Nick Schirripa. A lot of promises to send the deposit back, they never have,

In reading the above thread and these experiences I can advise anyone to NEVER book a hunt with these people. There are a few positives in this thread but far too many horror stories. There is too much time and energy put into these hunts to have it blown up by dishonorable people.

Saeng101,

I am sorry to read your post but not surprised, money is important to us all. The real loss is the shattered dream which can never be replaced. At least you were spared the awful experience of spending time chasing shadows.

Does anyone know where these people are at the moment; do they run a construction company in Mozambique?

Keep up the good work.

Regards, George

I am sorry to hear about your experience with Safrique. If you don't mind, could you tell us which concession your were supposed to hunt in Niassa Reserve L1, Majune or Mihimba and who was your PH supposed to be. They have three concessions and four PH's.

The hunt was supposed to be in Majune East. The PH was Matt.

Originally Posted by RickSpecialist

I am sorry to hear about your experience with Safrique. If you don't mind, could you tell us which concession your were supposed to hunt in Niassa Reserve L1, Majune or Mihimba and who was your PH supposed to be. They have three concessions and four PH's.

That is what I thought. All the hunters that I have corresponded with that hunted with Paul Davies in Niassa Reserve L1 reported good hunts. I myself did in this report. However, I did hear and I was there in early November that there were problems between Safrique and the the PH's in the Majune concessions. I heard different stories but don't no who is at fault in the problems there. I have heard since that Safrique is no longer working with those PH's. If they canceled the hunt due to internal problems it seems you should get your depost back or at least be offered another hunt. When I hunted L1 I saw some Elephant sign but not a lot. I think Elephant in that area might be touch and go. I did hunt Maua which is south of Majune in 2010 and there was a lot of Elephant and Sable there but not much else. Please keep us posted as to what Safrique does to satisfy their obligation. I am sorry you had problems but I am aware Safrique is trying to restructure. Have you contacted Randy Muns directly?